New Delhi: Ranbir Kapoor said playing Ram in Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming epic Ramayana comes with self-doubt and limited creative freedom. The actor emphasised that it was because he was portraying a deity worshipped by millions.
Kapoor spoke about the challenges of playing a mythological character, explaining how the role differed from his previous filmography.
“If I’m playing a character like in Animal (2023) or Brahmāstra (2022), there’s a certain amount of creative freedom. But here, the text has been written thousands of years ago, so you try to stick to it,” he said in an interview with BBC Asia.
The 44-year-old explained that portraying a character from an ancient epic required him to remain faithful to the source material rather than exercise the creative liberties available when playing fictional characters.
He also spoke about the pressure of meeting audience expectations and the possibility of offending certain communities through his portrayal.
“You have to drown out those inner voices of fear. Thoughts about whether you are going to please one community or another can creep into your work. You have to believe in the story, have devotion towards it and then keep your performance simple,” he said.
Kapoor admitted that taking on the role initially brought several insecurities, including questions about whether he was the right person to portray Ram. He said he experienced imposter syndrome after being offered the part and questioned whether he could do justice to the Hindu deity.
“But the opportunity was right in front of me, and I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I was also very aware of the kind of reactions it would invite,” he added.
Sai Pallavi, who plays Sita in the film, told the BBC that her spiritual upbringing influenced her approach to the role and that working on Ramayana became an opportunity to learn something beyond her understanding of herself as an actor.
“I have had a spiritual upbringing, and every time I do a film, I learn something from it. Sometimes, it brings out a side of me that I didn’t even know existed. With Ramayana, I felt the responsibility was on God to teach me something much bigger than what I had learnt so far,” she added.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend stars Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi, as well as Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The two-part adaptation brings together Oscar-winning composers Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman for the music, with DNEG handling the visual effects.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)